Time and Again
by monkan
Summary: One night InuTaisho receive a request to take care of a friend of the youkai witch. But when InuTaisho begins to understand that this is no ordinary hanyou he has taken under his wings a dark force begins to threaten the life of his family. The future seems awfully close. Inucest. Sesshoumaru x InuYasha.
1. Chapter 1

Author Note: Another old story, written long ago, posted elsewhere. Still mine. One-shot. Enjoy.

Summary: One night InuTaisho receive a request to take care of a friend of the youkai witch. But when InuTaisho begins to understand that this is no ordinary hanyou he has taken under his wings a dark force begins to threaten the life of his family. The future seems awfully close.

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha or any other character in the anime or manga. This is purely fan service.

Pairing: Sess/Inu. Don't like? Don't read!

Warning: m/m, yaoi, inucest, AU, angst big time, torture, violation, more may come

Read, Enjoy and Review. All feedbacks of encouragement, joy, happiness and constructive criticism are welcome.

Time and Again  
by Monkan

Chapter 1

"My Lord, I have to speak with you immediately." called the voice of a female youkai as the door flung open before her. She was dressed in dark robes and her greying hair told everyone of her age but her face was that of a beautiful young woman. Her green eyes sparkled with seriousness. Her mouth was set in a grim grimace. Her footsteps echoed around the court that had assembled around the royal family. The cheery atmosphere disappeared when she entered as if a breeze had taken it away. The guards made to stop her before she came to close to their lord but her feet stopped with some distance between them.

"And you are?" InuTaisho asked as he took a step forward in protectiveness of his mate and son.

"I am known by few names but those that know me call me Trista." her clear voice told him.

That name was indeed familiar to him. InuTaisho's face hardened as he took in her seriousness in a new way. "Trista the Witch. What brings you here?"

When he said her full title the room erupted in low chatter. Trista the Witch was well known in the higher circle of youkai society but few had actually seen her. She was one of the oldest witches known to exist and her power was to be feared. She was neutral with all issues concerning the land of Japan. She helped those that asked and needed her help but not those that wanted to abuse her powers. Those that tried to force her had in the end either lost their lives or sanity. She was a very honest and sincere person but also one that should be taken serious. It was said that she had the power to see the future but that was something no one knew if it was true. If she sought out someone it wasn't without an important cause.

Her eyes glanced at the new born heir before they returned to the lord. "I have a favour to ask you. Your father told me long ago that if I was ever in need of the Inu-youkai's help I could come here. Unfortunately as your father died several decades ago you are the only one I can ask." Her voice was rather fast as she spoke each word but at the same time as they held urgency her words was clear. "I don't have much time to explain this to you so I will be short. I want you too look after someone for me."

InuTaisho's eyes narrowed. She went on, "I need your answer now my lord or everything will be lost and more blood will be spilled."

InuTaisho didn't know why but his instincts told him to accept and before he could stop himself he gave his agreement.

Trista turned around and half ran, half walked back to the still open doors. From behind one of the greats doors she pulled out a figure dressed in a long white robe with a hood. As Trista lead the other person through the room the white robe seemed to shimmer and looked like snow falling toward the floor. Everyone marvelled at its brilliance. Whomever had made it was a genius to be acknowledged. The hood hide the face of the unknown person but one hand held tightly onto Trista's hand.

Trista came to a stop just a few steps away from InuTaisho and his family this time and she raised her free hand up to the hood. Everyone held their breath as they waited for what marvellous creature would appear from it. They couldn't tell what creature hide beneath the robe. They could only scent a sweet smell that reminded them of the fresh spring time of the forest.

First long dark hair fell out for everyone to see, it had the colour of the midnight sky when everything is darkest but also the clearest, around the forehead fell bangs in the same colour but some strands fell messily around the face. The skin held a tan that was neither too dark nor to light. Half lidded eyelashes framed dark eyes that matched the hair. It was now obviously that the creature was male but also a very attractive male but what more and more youkai noticed was that...

"He's a human!" InuTaisho said. "Surely you must be joking about letting a human-"

"He's more complex than that. I can only ask you to watch over him because I know that I can trust you. If I had had any doubt that you would do him any harm I wouldn't had come here in the first place." she looked almost tired now as she bowed deeply to the Daiyoukai. "I now leave him in your care. Take good care about him and may a good future grace your family."

Trista took a few steps backwards but felt how a pair of hands gripped her robes. She turned to see the still unnamed male holding onto her sleeve with a distressed look upon his face.

She gently pried of his hands but he took new grip before she almost sighed in frustration. "Don't worry about me. When everything is solved I will return for you and you can go home then." she patted him on his cheek, almost affectionately before she planted a kiss on his forehead. "Take care." she told him before she was gone. Leaving him standing in the middle of the room alone in the demon castle.

InuTaisho didn't know what he had gotten himself into. He didn't have anything against humans but he didn't particularly like them and now he was stuck with a human in his care. There was nothing he could do to change that until Trista the Witch came back for him, until then the human was all his responsibility.

He called on a youkai servant and told her to prepare one of the spare rooms. He turned to his mate and gave her a long look. She returned it and didn't look all to pleased. He looked down at his son she held in her arms. Sesshoumaru. He was barely half a year old and also InuTaisho's heir when he came of age. There were so many things that he had to look forward to with his mate and son. He didn't need more burdens.

"Take Sesshoumaru to our chamber. I will join you in a hour." InuTaisho told his mate and she nodded before walking towards the great doors. Sesshoumaru in her arms was sleeping soundly as he had done for quite a while now. When the two of them walked past the human he hadn't moved. She took a step forward and suddenly she heard the fluttering sound of a cap behind her. Her instincts was fast and strong but she couldn't fight back with her son in her arms and felt a comforting warmth surround her before she felt a weight over her back and strong arms wrapped around her. For a moment she thought it felt like her mates arms but one sniff and she could tell it wasn't. He didn't smell sweet like the forest.

She was vaguely aware that she hit her knees on the hard floor as her instincts told her to protect her pup. Sesshoumaru woke up and started to cry as the smell of blood reached his sensitive nose.

The safe warmth left her and she had the courage too look up at what had happened. To her surprise and chock it was the human that sat behind her. But she was still confused, she didn't know what had happened but the smell of blood reached her nose too. The human put his hands on the floor and she saw his back where an arrow had buried itself. From what little she could gather from their position she didn't have to guess that the arrow was meant for her. Then why? Why had this mortal human saved her?

"Are you all right?" she asked worriedly. If he hadn't saved her she would no doubt be dead by now. No matter how much they could heal by themselves it was useless if they were hit in the heart. Her mate was by her side now and other youkai was coming closer. The guards was wrestling down who she thought was the assassin.

The human reached toward the arrow and while he kept in his scream of pain he pulled out the arrow himself.

"What are you doing?" she asked terrified. She didn't like humans very much because they always hunted her kind and she knew little about them but she knew they could die from a wound like this. InuTaisho pushed his hands down on the wound to stop the blood flow and his hands stained with the mortal blood. Little Sesshoumaru had stopped his crying and was now hiccuping with sobs in his mothers arms.

The light in the room began to change and the moon that had once been hidden behind the dark clouds and the room that had only been lit by candle light was now filled with the silvery light of the crescent moon. To their surprise the human began to give of a pulse of energy. They all stared in amazement as the humans hair changed from black to a very similar white colour as InuTaisho's hair. A pair of puppy dog ears appeared on the top of his head and InuTaisho could feel the blood flow slowing down under his hands. Claws grew out on his hands and everyone was to stunned to say anything. The human had turned into a half youkai before their very eyes.

The half-demons back flexed and he pushed himself up to sit on his knees. He let his head fall back along with his new coloured hair, it fell around him almost gracefully but his eyes remained closed as he breathed in deeply.

Suddenly he was tugged to the side by his hair and it was only then that InuTaisho and his mate saw how little Sesshoumaru had grabbed a piece of the hanyou's hair and held it tightly in his hand. InuTaisho was stunned. His son hadn't done that to anyone, not even him and what was more... his son looked at the hanyou with his amber coloured eyes almost as if he was making sure the other was all right.

Golden eyes met golden eyes as Sesshoumaru and the hanyou stared at each other. The hanyou gave the little pup what could be called a shy smile. No one in that room could had guessed what the future had in store for them.

To be continued.


	2. Chapter 2

Time and Again  
by Monkan

Chapter 2

A week had passed since that day. InuTaisho had thought trouble would arise around the hanyou but to his surprise nothing happened. He still didn't know the hanyou's name and as a side note, he hadn't heard him speak a single word either. He didn't know who or where the hanyou was or came from. He did however made the conclusion that he belonged to the Inu-Youkai clan but there was no record of the birth of a hanyou in the last five hundred years. But his biggest surprise was that there was no one that disliked the hanyou. They weren't fully comfortable with him but there was no open hatred or disgust among the other youkai in the castle. Everyone accepted the hanyou.

The hanyou did rarely take of the white cloak he wore. When maids tried to take it of he would escape and hide until they gave up on finding him. It was strange how he seemed to know so very much about the castle but hadn't been there before. But he had promised to look after and protect the hanyou as Trista the Witch asked of him. Not only that, the hanyou had saved his mate from death and that made him in debt to the half-demon. He was a man of honor and there was nothing that would make him break his word now.

InuTaisho hadn't realized how deep in thought he was until he heard his mate, Setsuna, come running into his study.

"Sesshoumaru is gone."

"What?" InuTaisho exclaimed as he rose in a flash.

"I looked away for a moment and then he was gone. I don't know what happened. One second he was there and the next he wasn't."

The daiyoukai didn't need to hear more. He was already out the door with his mate behind him and gave out orders to look for his son. They couldn't find Sesshoumaru anywhere and dread of what may had happened seeped into them as their search became more and more frantic. The whole castle was in uproar of what may have happened their little prince. Hours later and they still hadn't found him and they had even searched outside the castle. Until...

"My Lord!" came the yell from one of the older servants and InuTaisho followed it until he himself saw what was the matter. The hanyou was walking into the front yard while dragging a lizard youkai who looked unaware of the world around him. The hanyou also held against his chest a bundle made out of his white robe and in it laid little Sesshoumaru, soundly sleeping with his fists near his face.

More and more youkai gathered and word that the little prince was safe spread quickly. Setsuna came running up to them and took Sesshoumaru in her arms before making sure her son was alright.

The hanyou threw the lizard youkai forward and he made a crash landing into a ungraceful heap. He came around with the hit but before he had a chance to even gather his situation a hand wrapped around his elbow and twisted it back until everyone thought that it would break but amazingly didn't. The all to familiar pain shot through the lizards arm. He let out an agonizing scream.

"I confess. I confess. It was I. I'm the guilty one." the pain lessened but didn't go away. "I was ordered to kidnap the heir of the West. Please let go of my arm, its going to be torn off."

The relief that came when his arm was released was something he hadn't known before. The pain throughout his body were horrible and any more harm done to his body and he wouldn't be sure if his self-healing would be of much use.

A pair of shoes came into view and the lizard had a sickening feeling in the pits of his stomach. He raised his head enough to cause him pain but also to see the furious face of the daiyoukai whose son he had tried to take away.

"Who send you?" asked InuTaisho.

Fear overcame the lizards face. "I-I-I can't tell you." he stuttered. "P-p-please ask me anything but that."

InuTaisho grabbed him by his neck and held him so far above the ground his feet couldn't touch it. "WHO?" he roared.

The lizard opened his mouth as if to speak but blood came rushing out instead and he never got a chance to say anything before he was dead. InuTaisho dropped him and watched his lifeless body, suicide. He could smell it; the way his fear had overtaken him and then how every emotion from him vanished just seconds before he was dead. InuTaisho wasn't sure what to think. Was the fear of speaking his employers name so great that he would chose death right away? Or was there something behind it all that he wasn't seeing? Who could have been behind it all? It all only added to more questions than answers.

The sound of faint footsteps leaving reached his sensitive ears and InuTaisho looked up and saw the hanyou's retreating back. It was as if nothing had changed but somehow InuTaisho knew that something was off with all of this. First of all... how had the hanyou known where the kidnapper was going? When no one of the others could find his son this complete... stranger finds, saves and returns without a scratch. It was as if every action about him was making the mystery about him deeper. He seemed to know things that others didn't. The intruder that tried the kidnapping wasn't that easy to find. Lizard youkais weren't just known in names alone for their skills as spies, kidnappers and assassins. That was the reason they hadn't found the intruder until the hanyou entered with him unconscious. If it hadn't even been for the hanyou they would had lost Sesshoumaru to who knows whom and what could had happen to him was even more frightening.

No. He couldn't go around suspecting the hanyou for something that might be totally wrong accusations, but until he knew for sure the hanyou wasn't an enemy he would have to watch him carefully. At least now he knew there was someone else out there that sought to harm him and his family.

-o-o-o-o-

The following days was seemingly uneventful and everyone seemed to have calmed down from the events with the lizard. The hanyou was often found in the garden, mostly not doing anything but sitting there.

InuTaisho watched from one of the windows that faced the garden and at the figure sitting down there. He watched as Setsuna came up to the hanyou with Sesshoumaru in her arms. From this distance and with the glass between them he couldn't hear what his mate was saying but he saw her say something before sitting gracefully down beside the hanyou. The half-breed looked at her face before down at Sesshoumaru who was awake and watching him with interest.

Setsuna saw the barrier that guarded his inner emotions falter and for the first time she found herself seeing a different light behind those golden eyes. A shimmer that seemed out of place, lonely and... scared. A clawed finger came up and touched gently Sesshoumaru's face. The silver haired pup made a light happy sound that caught the hanyou off-guard.

Setsuna had a keen sense of catching the small details that could mostly go unnoticed by others. In other words; she could read others very easily.

"Why are you doing this to yourself`?" she asked calmly. The hanyou looked up at her with questioning eyes. "There is something that tortures you but you won't let it out. As if you are knowingly hurting yourself, locking yourself away. Sooner or later the damage your silence will cost will be to great."

As her words was spoken she knew immediately that she had made the wrong move. She saw how his defenses rose and locked his inner self even deeper behind chains and walls for anyone to break through. She flinched back at the ice cold glare in the hanyou's eyes. Never... not even her own mate had showed such a cold glare at anyone. It wasn't just cold but also haunted. It spoke of had seen a terror far worse than anything she could even imaging.

"Is something wrong?" asked InuTaisho as he came up behind them and they both turned around. The hanyou stood up and walked away without a sound. Both Setsuna and InuTaisho remained where they were, looking after him.

"What were you talking about?" InuTaisho asked his mate.

Setsuna looked up at her mate with her golden brown eyes. "I asked too much."

-o-o-o-o-o-

When he finally was alone in one of the big common rooms that could almost be mistaken for a library the hanyou stopped and took deep breaths. His ears laid back against his skull like he was trying to keep out all sounds. He caught a glimpse at the corner of his eyes and flinched at the same time his head snapped to the side to see his own reflection in the whole body mirror standing there.

His amber eyes stared deeply into the eyes of his own reflection. Sounds. He could hear sounds. Voices calling him. The sound of his own memories. All those voices he once knew. He didn't have to concentrate at all to separate all the voices. They were all calling him just like they had so long ago. Or was it would? Or wouldn't anymore?

They all screamed and talked to him until it sounded only like one voice... and finally... his voice.

_InuYasha_

The mirror broke into shards just as a group of maids entered the room and they saw the hanyou standing by the mirror, his fist bloody as it dripped blood onto the wooden floor under his feet among the shards from the mirror. The wounds on his hand healed right away and what remained was the trails of blood.

The maids stood frozen until instinct of their duty hit them and they came rushing to him to clean up and make sure he was ok. The hanyou looked at them and gave them a weak smile before escaping the room and the questions.

He escaped mostly unnoticed to his room, his white cloak falling around his body in soft waves. The cloth was separated and a deep red kimono was revealed. He put both hands on his bed and took slow deep breaths. He could still hear the voice. A calling from another place, the place he belonged.

"I want to go home." he flopped down on the bed and curled into a fetal position, holding his arms close against his chest. "Why...? Why did you send me here?" warm tears spilled from his eyes and onto the soft covering. "Please tell me, why couldn't we face the end together?"

_I can't let you die._

"You're not fair."

_For both of our sakes you have to live._

"I don't want to be alone."

_Forgive me..._

"Don't leave me."

_For eternity and beyond..._

"I'm scared."

_Remember that I..._

"Please don't be so cruel."

_Love you, InuYasha._

...

...

...

...

...

...

"Sesshoumaru."

Tbc!


	3. Chapter 3

Time and Again  
by Monkan

Chapter 3 of 3

The great hall of InuTaisho were alive with chatter and music. The yearly festival that were held each decade for the youkai of royal family had fallen upon his castle this time and so he had taken it upon himself, along with his mate, to plan everything instead of leaving it to his closest counselors. The great room was decorated tastefully with much natural beauty from the forest and with silk and candle lights around the room. The food were for all tastes, be it those that ate meat or those that lived of the fresh fruits nature had to offer. Wine were served to those that wanted to indulge in it and the mode were merry. Setsuna stood at one end of the hall, talking with the other Ladies of the Lands as well as their daughters while InuTaisho were on the other side, talking to the Lords of the Lands. The day had proceeded without incident and everyone were relaxed.

However, InuTaisho hadn't seen the hanyou for the evening and he were now and then wondering where he was. His eyes would also search the halls for his son now and then. The little boy had began to grow at a fast rate and were now able to walk around the castle on mostly steady feet. It had been only two months since the kidnap attempt and since then they were now aware that someone was after their family and the security had gone up, but InuTaisho couldn't help but feel that he needed to keep an eye on his son.

He knew without a doubt that one day Sesshoumaru would grow up to be a magnificent and graceful Lord of the West, a heir he wouldn't have any trouble to leave the throne over to. He would be a kind and strong leader for their people and the land would prosper. Of that he had no doubt.

So why? Why did he feel such an anxiety? It had began when the hanyou had entered their lives. There were something around him that made InuTaisho apprehensive about what were to come, some unknown fear had crept into his heart and were growing stronger every day. He couldn't place what surrounded the hanyou even though it was very familiar, he just knew it was something he greatly feared. They still didn't know where he came from and his heritage was therefore also unknown. what puzzled InuTaisho more was the hanyou's temperament. Even if the hostility was real there were still a tenderness in him, he never meant to hurt anyone although he broke a few hands that tried to touch him. While his eyes glared hatefully at others to keep them away, they tried to hide the loneliness he felt. Even if he didn't let anyone touch him it was obvious that sometimes he longed for a simple touch of friendship.

InuTaisho trusted the hanyou, something in his heart had told him that when he started to look past the facade. His heart even cried out in pain each time he saw the lonely and abounded look in his eyes. The hanyou still didn't talk even if you asked him something, he just kept all his secrets and pain inside his heart. Though his actions didn't say anything of something threatening it was clear that they were kept to a minimal so they wouldn't attract to much attention.

No matter how he looked at the hanyou he got the impression of a hunted animal.

"My Lord?" a voice pulled him from his thoughts and InuTaisho noticed that he had been spacing out and had rudely ignored his formal guests.

"I'm sorry, something just crossed my mind. You were saying?" InuTaisho excused himself and concentrated on the other Lord once again. It was a Lord that had only recently come to power after his father had died. A good youkai although a bit green around the edges he tried to make up for the lost of his father.

But the young Lord wouldn't take the hint. "Something the matter?" he asked while his purple blue eyes stared into InuTaisho's eyes. He wasn't really intimidated by the great Lord before him but at the same time he clearly respected InuTaisho.

"No. Just some private issues." Since the hanyou rarely showed himself it wasn't hard to hide him from prying eyes, even though InuTaisho had no intentions to do that from the beginning.

He just wished he knew the answers to this big mystery. InuTaisho had no idea his wish would be granted in a most gruesome way of reality.

What no one knew or sensed was that under the night that had fallen around the castle, things were changing. Fast and severally.

-o-o-o-o-

InuYasha sat high above the crowd and looked over them. He could see them all up there. Faces he had seen before and those he had already come to know. He still felt detached. He had ever since he had arrived here. Everything seemed to be in a daze and he couldn't break through it, he saw and reacted but were his reactions really his? The only things he had felt since coming here was bewilderment, hate, sorrow and loneliness.

He didn't belong here. He wanted to go home but there was no home to go back to. Hell, he wasn't even sure how he got here. One moment he had fought and then the next moment something closed around him, stalling his breath and then he was here. He hadn't had a choice in weather he wanted to be here or not. He had been forced and he didn't know whom had done it. He first thought it was the witch but then again he also knew she wouldn't take actions without reasons and by the time the battle had begun, she was already...

InuYasha shock his head to get rid of the thoughts. He only got depressed when he thought about it all. So he had forced himself to stop thinking about it.

He longed to be home, and in a way it was his home. Sesshoumaru was here, though he was just a little kid he had still managed to worm his way into his heart. There were also his father whom he had never seen before, at least not alive. And there were some others he knew but all others weren't here.

Where they still fighting? Had they won or lost? What about Sesshoumaru? What was he doing? Had he returned to the castle yet? Was he even still alive? Could he ever go back? Would he like to stay here and build a new life? Could he... turn his back on Sesshoumaru and deny his heart? Start over again with this Sesshoumaru?

...

No he couldn't. He couldn't do that, even if this Sesshoumaru would one day grow up and become the powerful and beautiful youkai he was destined to be they weren't the same. It wouldn't be the same. Even if he had lost everything he would still betray 'his' Sesshoumaru and their family. It would kill him.

After all, he didn't belong here. This wasn't his time.

A sudden shudder ran down his spine and his blood turned to ice at the same time it burned. His muscles tensed and his heart stopped beating. The hair on his neck stood on edge and he almost lost control of his youki. Slowly he turned his head and looked down at the crowd. None other had sensed it and that was just because they didn't know yet. InuYasha's eyes searched the hall and shifted his body so the white cloak around him fell down from the sill.

His eyes caught the one infesting him with the same fear and hate he had felt the last few years. The one responsible for his lost. He couldn't hold back the growl that rumbled in his throat.

Naraku.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

InuTaisho turned around just in time to see a pair of blood red eyes across the room. Then a low growl caught his ears as well as many others of the guests ears. The air was filled with the fluttering sound of cloths and in the middle not far from the red eyed youkai landed the hanyou in a graceful flow of white and... red? The cloth around him had parted and from beneath it was a red yukata with equal red hakama visible. What struck InuTaisho most was that it looked just like his fire-rat cloth that lay stuffed away in his room.

The red eyed youkai looked baffled for a moment before his face turned ice cold with mirth.

"How come you're still alive... and here, InuYasha? You were surely dead."

"I don't know." InuYasha's words drifted from his lips and InuTaisho and everyone else heard his voice for the first time, and also his name. "But I do know that you will die this time Naraku." his voice was a little deep but also held a boyish undertone in it, slightly hoarse from disuse.

The one called Naraku smirked. "Don't you know that time is with me InuYasha. But do tell me InuYasha..." Naraku paused. "How are you going to kill me when you couldn't even save Shinsei from death."

"Don't you dare..." InuYasha started but was cut of.

"If I recall it he died pushing you out of danger just to have him die for nothing. How would your mate respond to it if he knew the truth? The child you were destined to bring forth, for the greater good of Japan, only to be killed by protecting you." he thoughtfully said.

InuYasha's hate toward the evil youkai grew with every word that held truth among his lies. "Don't think that your words will make me do the same thing twice. You don't even belong here, your lies holds no truth to them yet. And you may be a youkai now but you will forever be a lowly bandit in the rotten depths of your heart."

Naraku was stunned for a moment but then hissed from between his teeth. "I may not belong here but so do neither you. You if anyone are the biggest mistake nature could ever create. I may have been a human but that is far from what I am now, compared to you who were born between a human and an youkai. It must have been because of your dirty blood that you were able to snare your "mate" to yourself. For we both knows that he would never chose you. He hated you more than anything. The one that dirtied the blood of his noble father."

He knew it was partly true. Sesshoumaru may have hated him once in their life but that wasn't the case anymore. If only...

"Now that Shinsei is gone your purpose to him is for nothing. Your are even more worthless than you were before your mating. For who in their right mind would ever mate with someone so close to their own blood who can't give him a heir anymore. You. His own, dirty, human born, worthless, hanyou, little brother." Naraku sneered at him. "The house of the Inu-Youkai will fall with your birth."

InuYasha suddenly became aware of those around them. For a moment he panicked and he couldn't dare to look around in fear of what he would see. The wounds was still to fresh for him to face others. He couldn't heal in such a short time these wounds. Maybe everything everyone had said to him was true, that their mating was a mistake.

Suddenly he felt a strong youki close around him and embraced him. In that moment he could feel the strong arms wrap around his torso, the silken hair fall over his shoulders, the strong chest pressed against his back, the eternal face pressed against his hair and those lips next to his ear, he could even smell the scent of his mate. Even this far apart they were still connected by their bond.

InuYasha felt another pair of hands grab his hand and the tiny claws of his child touched him, the tiny youki was so similar to theirs. A nose nuzzled the hair close to his ear and he could hear the words in his heart.

"I'm always with you. Where ever you are."

"What was that?" Naraku asked with a sneer.

'Trust me.' a voice whispered in InuYasha's head.

InuYasha raised his golden eyes and glared at Naraku with such intensity that it actually made him flinch. "You may think that you have won the war but as long as me and my family lives we will fight you."

"Then why don't you just die?" Naraku said as he threw his hand through the air and InuYasha was thrown back as he blocked the wind. Blood dripped from his body and stained his cloths red. "You talk bravely but what can a lonely hanyou do?"

As the second attack was about to hit him more forcefully a white blur intercepted it and it hit the wall, sending cracked stone all over the guests.

InuTaisho stared unflinching at the back of the new figure that had appeared. It looked so familiar.

"Who...?" Naraku hissed angry as he stared at the intruder in disbelief. "Who are you here?"

InuYasha reached out and gently touched the back the other youkai. His head rested against the soft silk kimono that covered the back. White silken hair was braided and thrown over one of his shoulders. The long fluffy tail were wrapped over the same shoulder as the braid.

"Even a hanyou can create a future." the deep voice of the youkai spoke out. "But someone as blinded by his greed like you can't see that."

InuYasha had started to tremble, "Shinsei." he whispered.

"I'm sorry I had to make you suffer, dad." the youkai said over his shoulder. His eyes were a golden shade with darker spots of melted gold in them, thin lips in a sad smile, two strips on his cheek as well as high cheek bones. "I didn't expect the war to reach you in the first time. I made a mistake and you and father had to pay for it."

"Shinsei..." Naraku said. "How can you be Shinsei. Shinsei is a little brat no older than 50 years."

Shinsei looked at the evil youkai. "I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you." He pulled his sword. "It was my fathers last wish to bring dad back and I'm here to honor that wish. Your death will only bring joy to my family."

"How impudent." Naraku yelled and attacked.

Shinsei pushed InuYasha back so he was out of range before he swung his sword. The edge of the blade cleaved Naraku's hand like it was made of butter. The red eyed youkai jumped back but his arm was cut clean of. His blood dripped onto the floor.

"It's time to end your life." Shinsei said as he raised the sword and it turned deep red which sparkled like lighting. He swung it down and a deep red dragon roared above him before it flied toward Naraku. The breath from it cracked the floor. Just when the dragon was about devour Naraku a shadow raced forward and threw a jewel into the gap of the dragon. It exploded and disappeared.

"Let me tell you something, Shinsei. As long as I'm by Naraku-sama's side I won't let anything harm him." The shadow said, his face couldn't be seen. "It looks like we underestimated you. We will take out leave now, see you in the future, my dear Lord."

The shadows around them swallowed them and they were gone before anyone could do anything.

Shinsei's grip on the sword tighten. "Captain Torii. It was you after all."

He turned around, his braid flying in the air and he walked over to InuYasha. He knelt down and stared into the face of his dad that he hadn't seen in ages. Reasons and consequences had lead him to this and he had even endangered the past with the war he fought. His regrets were that his family couldn't have the peaceful time together that they deserved. Instead the war had reached them and destroyed them. Even to this point where it reached the childhood of his sire.

"I'm sorry." he said quietly. "I never wanted to involve you in this but to send you back here were the only thing I could do to prevent our family to be erased." he bowed his head in shame. "I'm so sorry, dad." tears fell from his eyes and hit the hard floor. He was aware that around them InuTaisho were taking control over the situation and made sure the injured were taken care of.

It was the flaw when he fought, he had forgotten about the others around him. Those that had nothing to do with this. But he wanted to end Naraku's life so much he had forgotten them. He at least knew there were no deaths among them.

A hand on his head petted him and he looked up and into the kind golden eyes he remembered so much. "It's not your fault." InuYasha whispered, when his hand caressed Shinsei's cheek it was then the young youkai realized that the hand was covered in blood. A large piece of stone had settled deep inside InuYasha's body, draining it from its life.

"Dad." he said as his eyes fearfully watched blood drench InuYasha's cloths in crimson. "No. No. No. Don't die. I promised father that I would bring you back. You can't die now. Trista should be back any moment now and everything will return to normal."

"I'm happy that I got to see that you have grown into such a fine young man, my son." InuYasha said as he swayed dangerously from side to side. Shinsei caught him before he fell to the floor. "Show me.." he whispered. "Sesshoumaru's... last moment."

The tears trailed down his face, there was nothing he could do. Trista were close by but by the time she got here InuYasha would be dead. Once more he was powerless to help his family.

"Please."

Shinsei lifted his sword diagonally from them toward the ceiling and it glowed.

**His royal armor who carried the mark of the Inu-youkai lineage were damaged. Splinter from it fell to the ground as he held a sword tightly in his hand. His claws dug into his palm as it squeezed the handle so tightly it should had broken. Around him lay hordes of enemies and fellow comrades. The land were burning, burning out the ancient history it had carried witness to. The glazed look in the golden eyes seemed to sharpen until they came back to awareness. A whisper from his lips were lost to all ears as he stood proud and tall before running toward the castle surrounded by dark smoke.**

**He jumped through the broken front gate and over the many bodies that laid over the stone floor. He ran through the castle until he reached the large doors that lead to the great hall of the throne. He burst through them and stopped dead in his tracks. His sword clattered when it hit the ground. He knelt down and reached for a small child whose body was lifeless. The shards of Tensaiga laid next to him and it's broken blade seemed to cry tears of silence that couldn't make redemption. The youkai held the body close to his chest, tears fell from his eyes as he stroked the white hair of the child. His eyes lost their shine of life, joy, belief, honor and peace as he held the child.**

**But it wasn't until he looked up toward the great crystal that had grown monstrously in the hall that his soul, body and mind lost it's life. Tears so heavy and clear ran down his face and as they fell from his chin they sparkled like diamonds.**

**His slightly parted lips trembled for a moment before opening to its biggest and screamed in pure, heart-broken terror at the body that laid sealed inside the crystal.**

**"INUYASHA!"**

**The once proud Daiyoukai put gently the body of the child on the cold stone floor, before he grief struck and shamefully crawled over the floor on his hands and knees. His stained slender hands trembled with sudden weakness but they still refused to give way until they reached their goal. The giant crystal lay before him and he sat back as his fingers slowly touched the transparent material. The cold touch of it didn't matter and both of Sesshoumaru's hands rested against the crystal that held his lover trapped inside.**

**Sesshoumaru looked up and into the frozen face of InuYasha. The eyes looked lost and beyond his reach. Unable to see them anymore he gently pressed his cheek against the visible wall and cried heavy tears of sorrow and lost.**

**He barely noticed it but the wind brought with it a white cloth with royal markings on it. So hopelessly in his grief he wasn't even aware of his lips moving unconsciously... begging to save his family. The castle came down around him, taking everything with it.**

The scene ended and the hall was silent. Except for the single footsteps that lead to Shinsei.

"I'm sorry I'm to late." Trista the witch said in a sad voice. "I came back as soon as I could but there was nothing I could do in the end."

"Don't say stupid things." Shinsei said to her, his voice broken and lost. "Can't you see his smile?"

Trista looked down at InuYasha's face and was surprised to see his face smiling, even though he was dead.

"They didn't die for nothing. They have taught me something important, I can't correct my mistakes this time but next time I will not make the same ones. Next time I will protect everyone."

"Lord Shinsei." Trista said.

Shinsei started to become transparent, he was vanishing into thin air. He looked up at Trista with a sad smile. "Both my parents are dead and so are my younger self therefore my existence will vanish." he looked thoughtfully at the child that would one day become his father. "Promise me..." he whispered to Trista's ears only. "That you will watch over them." InuYasha's body was vanishing in his arms.

"I promise my Lord." Trista said.

"And one more thing." Shinsei said even though he was half gone.

"Yes."

"No one will remember us, except you. All evidence of us will vanish, time will turn back, everything will continue like it was supposed to but I want you to do something else this time."

Trista nodded. "What is it my Lord?"

Shinsei smiled. "I want you..." he vanished into thin air and before Trista knew it herself she were once again standing in her house. She looked around, everything looked exactly like it did that time when she for the first time met her future Lord. She knew that she alone bore memories of that day and that it wouldn't happen again. She alone would be the one to bare out her destined Lord's final and first wish.

-o-o-o-

The following day, Trista the Witch honored the Royal Inu-Youkai family with a prophesy to their son.

It said that Sesshoumaru and his destined mate would bring forth a heir. A heir that would bring great victories in the upcoming wars, and bring the people of their land great happiness and peace. Sesshoumaru's mate would be connected to him by half his blood and that their love alone would change the course of destiny in Japan. A Daiyoukai and a Hanyou of the same demon blood would be the beginning of everything and their family will be the greatest ever.

Since it was Trista the Witch that told the prophesy very few doubted it.

The next day Setsuna, InuTaisho's wife and Sesshoumaru's mother was assassinated in front of everyone. Her life couldn't be saved.

Sesshoumaru grew up and lived up to be a magnificent youkai. His fathers pride was evident but it was also when Sesshoumaru was 400 years that InuTaisho took a human mate and InuYasha was born. Despite the fact that Sesshoumaru hated InuYasha and his mother everyone believed that this was the hanyou of the prophesy so long ago spoken of. Even more so when InuTaisho died protecting InuYasha and his mother.

Trista kept her promise and watched as history unfolded and she protected the siblings against dangers they weren't aware of. She waited for the day they would realize their love and mate, she waited for their family to unite and she waited for their only heir to be born.

She waited for her Lord to be born. For she knew he would need the memories she had protected of his previous life.

-o-o-o-

An ethereal shadow stood by the rippling water. The creature had white silky hair that framed a pale face and golden eyes. His hair was long enough to almost touch his feet, the wind blew past him and drew his hair behind him. The features was that of a man and his face was set in a soft smile. Twin stripes on his cheeks and a crescent moon on his forehead was the only other features that stood out. He was dressed in a white kimono with purple marks around the neck, sleeves and the bottom. The arms was cut differently from normal models of kimonos. The cut began at his pale wrist and the cloth ended a little lower than his knees. The markings was elegant and noble, speaking of a world of history they only knew of.

The beauty of this creature was out of this world, even if it was clear that he was youkai, some would say that he looked like something that didn't belong to this world. His pure white complex that could be compared to the new fallen snow that had a tint of blue, the sign of pure fallen snow, unstained by the world and all its hardships. The moon let it's light filter through the leaves from the tree above him and bathed him in its pale shine.

In the rippling water stood a hanyou. His hair was more silver than white and reached down to his butt. His skin wasn't as pale as the others but it wasn't overly tanned. His equally golden eyes shinned with infinite childish innocence and brightness. He didn't have the markings on his face but his features was another sort of beauty, more handsome and mature but at the same time immature and childish. Puppy ears at the top of his head was clothed with white fur as the wind made them twitch slightly in the cold breeze of the night.

He was dressed in the same sort of kimono as the other one but his marking was a deep red color. The same as the blood that flowed through them both.

Another sort of ripples floated through the water as it parted for the ethereal youkai as he made his way over to the other. His steps was smooth and graceful, the water let him through without trouble it almost seemed to part for him.

When they were standing face to face their height difference was clear and the youkai that stood still in the water was obviously shorter by a few inches, but not overly short as his eyes reached up to the others nose.

A hand reached down and laid on the younger demons cheek. The smoothing sound of the wind was the only sound as they stared deeply into each others eyes.

Ever so slowly they drew closer, the hand never once lowered but more like guided the others face to his. His sleeve pooled at his elbow and revealed twin straps on his arm too.

Their faces' were just an inch apart now and their eyelids dropped to half-close before fluttering down to hide their eyes, their breaths mingled as they slowly, slowly drew even closer until their lips touched. The kiss was passionate and long. The wind had grabbed a hold of the taller youkai's hair and clothes and blew it so it shielded his lover from the world. The puppy-eared hanyou's hair blew behind his back and mingled with his lovers.

When the kiss ended they held each other close as the rest of the world slowly passed them by. Not once did they let each other go. It was almost like a silent, unspoken promise that even if the world was ending they wouldn't leave each other.

The End


End file.
